


And the soles of your shoes are all worn down

by Riana1



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Modern AU, everyone still has issues, no one dies, reincarnation is a bitch, there are no happily ever afters because nothing ever ends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-10
Updated: 2013-09-13
Packaged: 2017-12-08 01:30:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 10,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/755414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riana1/pseuds/Riana1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a reason why fairy tales say 'don't look back."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BookWorm848](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookWorm848/gifts).



Sansa wakes up with a scream in her throat. 

She buries her face in Willas's naked chest and tries to concentrate on the warmth of his arms and the sound of cars passing under their window. Everything, anything to leech away the dream dregs in her head- the heavy weight of damask, the roar of the crowd, and the thunk as her father's head hits the ground. 

She hates the old capitol and wishes for nothing more than the steel and glass of their Oldtown flat.


	2. Chapter 2

Cersei pulls out the whiskey bottle and guzzles the sweet burning down. 

It is three a.m. and she has court at eight but nothing, nothing could convince her to lay her head back down on that pillow. Her therapist told her the dreams were a psychosomatic response to her biological clock; Cersei retorted that the basis for her great relationship with Tyrion was he reproduced so she didn't have to. 

She fired the therapist but the weight of the dead boy lingers in her arms.


	3. Chapter 3

Loras finds Renly looking over the family photographs on the wall. Tracing the smiling faces of his nieces and nephews, his parents, and lingering over Stannis and Shireen. Loras wonders where this anxiety keeps covering from- they did fine hosting Bella and Gendry before they went off to uni and while Robert was the black sheep and all around shit of the family, he made beautiful babies. 

Bara would be theirs, all legal and lovely, but these damn dreams made him want to call Cassana. The nursery is ready, but Loras was not going to risk Renly for anything. He would trade a kingdom for a good night sleep if he could.


	4. Chapter 4

Viserys makes sure to have the breakfast tacos ready on the table before Dany wakes up. He seats himself at the bay window halfway across the room deliberately. Ever since Dany showed up unannounced at his gallery, Viserys makes sure to telegraph his every move loudly to his baby sister- she flinched when he tried to hug her and he does not try again. 

Viserys plays with his phone, scrolling over the names again and again. Mother, Elia, Rhaenys- he hesitates, remembering how the smell of antiseptic and watching the dull eyes of his brother. He looks over to the guest room door and thinks of the circles under his sister's eyes, and the memory of their house burning to the ground with their father in it.

He punches Rhaenys's number


	5. Chapter 5

Bran hides the pills in his cheeks.

He rather wake up every night in a cold sweat then spend another hour wandering through the mental fog the pills bring. Bran takes cat naps during his free period and it is enough to keep him functioning and fully able to lie to his parents. He hates the bitter tang the pills leave in his mouth, he hates the worry in his mother's eyes and the lines around his father's mouth, he hates being the eldest left at home because Jon would distract him, Robb would listen to him, Arya would sneak in and talk with him, and Sansa would understand him.

Now Bran is alone.

And he dreams of a wolf and red leaves and faces in the white bark that are a mirror to his own.


	6. Chapter 6

Tywin pulls the letter out of the drawer and watches out the window Joanna swanning in the pool with the grandchildren.

Elaborate historic fiction or not, Tywin Lannister is not an obtuse man. When his nighttime world consists of constant denigrations of his youngest and his daughter in law, he understands certain issues need to be address. The medieval pageantry he blames on the bloody historical melodrama Joanna and the girls are all caught up in. Tywin snorts, why anyone would fantasize over an illogical world run on agnatic primogeniture and idiocy rather than a functional parliament he would never understand. Election might be brutal but the slaughter existed in the polls not the streets. 

If Tyrion wanted to enter politics then Tywin would back him. Neither of the twins ever gave any sign of following in their father's footsteps and Tywin would not risk his legacy being dragged in the mud by the reluctance of a successor wanting parental approval. The country and his children deserve better than that.

Tywin push the letter into the envelope and thought about the sight of his son and family. Who would have guessed that a runaway marriage would be the best assent that Tyrion could amass? The entire group of them was a photo opt waiting to happen.


	7. Chapter 7

Dany knows that she should have stayed at school.

Failing the semester and camping in her brother's guest room watching cartoons is hardly going to scream mental health to her family. Viserys acts like she is a skittish horse (she didn't mean flinch but his touch made her tremble) and Dany knows acting like this isn't normal. Her mother and brother avoid the subject of her father and Rhaegar if they can, couching the truth in euphemisms if they can't.

The 'incident with your father' as if assaulting your wife and setting your home ablaze was the equivalent of getting drunk at an office party. Only Elia had ever been honest with her but Dany did not want to disappoint her or the rest of the Martells. Rhaenys was doing her residency in the North and Aegon had joined the military like Obara and Dany wanted to show them all how she could shine.

Political Science was a sure fit. Dany knew where she belonged since she was little and watched Doran on the House floor giving a speech. She was made for this. Mother even lined up an internship in the office of /Tywin Lannister/ for summer break; his wife had been friends with mother for decades.

And it is all is for naught now.

Dany can't get the dreams out of her head.

Dragons, kingdoms falling at her feet, and the world ending in ice- she dreams and dreams even when she is not a sleep; Dany wonders if her father was like this, setting the house on fire because all he could see was flames or her brother listening forever for a wolf howl over a battlefield of frozen corpses.

She gets up and steals the breakfast tacos her brother set out and scuttles back into the bedroom, locking the door. Maybe the newest episode of Dunk and Egg would help.

(Dany doubts it).


	8. Chapter 8

Arya tosses of her flip-flops and lays back in the hammock.

The conversation with her father had not been pleasant to say the least. The old refrain of what-are-you-doing-with-your-life and come-home still brings pinpricks of guilt to her gut but Arya can hardly come out and tell her father that tending bar on the beach /is/ what she is going to do for the rest of her life. Her parents have enough on their plate with her brothers and Arya has to admit to herself: she is afraid of hearing the disappointment in her father's voice.

And it is a good life.

Sharing a bungalow with Gendry, planning on a bar 'n' grill with Hot Pie, sleeping under the stars with the ocean in her ears, and never losing herself again. 

Arya does not like to remember Braavos.

Or the fact she does not remember Braavos.

Only waking up on the boat to the Summer islands with blood underneath her fingernails (Gendry got rid of her clothes and the sword she was carrying) and the old proverb, fear cuts deeper than swords, ringing in her ears as Arya scrubbed her hands raw.

Arya knows she is happy here in a world of sand, sea, and eternal summer.

She won't go back.


	9. Chapter 9

Willas worries about Sansa.

King's Landing is fascinating has only centuries old cities can be. The sabbatical gives the Willas the chance to dig beneath the years and rescue a world long forgotten, but Sansa is not settling well. They were happier in Oldtown, the flat off First, taking coffee on Second, and parting ways on Third with Sansa off to the shop and Willas to class. Still, Oldtown is a misnomer, except for the Starry Sept, most of the city measures in decades not centuries since the Great Fire and the loss of the Citadel. The research grant for King's Landing gives Willas a chance to make his mark in academia.

But Sansa can't sleep.

She wakes up whimpering every night and half the time Willas reaches for her and only finds empty air. She leaves him alone in their bed so he can sleep. She won't leave him, dismissing the attempt at commuting or even talking about her nightmares.

Willas is at his wit's end.

The phone lays heavy in his hand but who could he call? The Starks are having problems with their youngest, Loras and Garlan are having babies, Sansa's siblings are not even on the continent, and telling his parents or grandparents would be overkill... the twinge in his leg pulses sharply and Willas grits his teeth against the pain.

Psychosomatic, phantom pain, the doctors say, but Willas wonders why now.

He never even broken a bone but sometimes he worries.


	10. Chapter 10

Robb lies to his father.

It is the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance at becoming a king in the industry, but really only the sight of Jeyne's rounding belly beneath a silk qipao brings him peace. The panic attack on the hiking trail near the ruins of the Twins had him airlifted to Seagard General. Robb remembers waking up to the beeping of the heart monitor and Jeyne. Nothing was more important than Jeyne. When the offer for the Yi Ti office comes up, Robb volunteers.

He misses his family and hates the twelve hour flight, but crossing the open air veranda with the smell of citrus and sunshine and seeing his wife planting flowers along the walkway, Robb is happy. His head doesn't feel like it is being ripped off and his chest doesn't ache like someone drove a knife through it.

There are no ghosts here in the daylight.


	11. Chapter 11

Tyrion wakes.

The ritual goes on like it always does. His wife, his son, his daughters, the fat yellow cat on the couch, the blinking light on his phone, no messages from his sister, brother, or parents- everyone is safe and all is right in the world.

No nightmare can compete against that warm reassurance.

He goes back to bed.


	12. Chapter 12

She leaves the apartment with her lover in bed, a note on the door. 

And sheds her old life. 

She empties out her bank account, buys red hair dye at the corner store, and a one way ticket north. She dyes her hair in the bathroom sink at the train station, and stares at her reflection, combing the blood red strands tight against her head and thinks /finally I fit/.

Melisandre, she mouths to the mirror and smiles.


	13. Chapter 13

Rhaenys collapses in to her mattress, cursing Val and her own bloody stupidity of going along with a 'kidnapping' bridal bash when she has rounds the next day. She swears by all the gods that if Tormund makes another crack about not needing snow zombies when they had their own 'sand zombie' Rhaenys would have to kill him and generally maim anyone that got between her and an IV line.

She pulled out her phone and frowned at the four missed calls from Viserys but no messages. Well, she call him back after the world stopped spinning or her head did. Which ever came first.

Her cousins might rag on her for always leaving her mattress on the floor, childhood fears or no, it made far easier to crawl into bed completely drunk and not hurt yourself falling out.

Rhaenys decided she had to tell Arianne that.

(When Arianne got the text message she figured Rhaenys accidentally butt dialed her again. She had been doing that a lot since she moved up north.)


	14. Chapter 14

Jamie likes working at the foundation with his uncle. The work is easy, the staff cheery, and his office has a spectacular view of Casterly and the coast. Jamie plays at public relations, two hours of work at the best of times, and indulges with pick up games at rec center with the kids. A life of self indulgence and service as only a Lannister could pull off-to quote Tyrion (Jamie made his revenge felt by arranging backstage passes for the girls and Tyrion when the hottest boy band hit the Rock Theater, Joy nearly burst Tyrion's right eardrum with her squeal of delight).

It is an easy life.

It is a good life.

Jamie desperately wishes Cersei was in it. He prayed the night she called him to say her period was late. He stayed up all night staring at his folded hands, asking the gods he didn't believe in for a sign (he dreamed of hands: holding the hilt of a blade buried in an old man's back, curled around his sister's naked breast, mutilated and missing, coiled around his sister's broken neck.)

Jamie almost dropped the phone when Cersei called the next morning. It was a false alarm. I'm alright. We can't do this anymore. Jamie doesn't argue. They stop cold turkey for half a year until their mother gets suspicious, but Cersei makes partner at her firm and Tysha gets pregnant again and their lives diverge. The e-mails and phone calls and occasional lunches settle between them in a semblance of normality that gnashes at Jamie's nerves but (a thousand leagues to come to you, and lost the best part of me along the way) he never argues.

It is an easy life, it is a good life, most days Jamie almost believes it.


	15. Chapter 15

Lyanna pulled off the red bra on the bannister and moved downstairs to the kitchen to set an extra plate for breakfast. She hoped this one was still Ygritte. Lyanna liked Ygritte and while she was always polite to the parade of redheads coming in and out of her son's bed,but frankly, Lyanna was tired of Jon getting his heart broken from all these southern girls getting cold feet when winter hits. 

Lyanna slammed the coffee pot down. White Harbor was home and had a better biology department than any other university on the continent and no Stark would give up the chance to work on the dire wolf reintegration project. Lyanna took a deep breath and picked up a lemon pastry. She hoped it was Ygritte. Not that Lyanna would say a word. Jon had a right to make his own mistakes- she knew from bitter experience that the tighter the control, the wilder the fight. Lyanna closed her eyes and sent a prayer to her poor goodsister. Cat had a been a saint when Jon was little and Lyanna was sorting her life out (and the probable source of her son's redhead fixation). She hoped things were going better now that Bran was getting medication. Maybe a surprise trip to Yi Ti to see Robb and Jeyne. Or a cruise to see Arya. Her bonus on the Myr merge was due.

Lyanna sucked her fingers clean and went to pick up a third cup out of the cabinet before the footsteps hit the stairs. Lyanna loved the open air floor plan of her home but sound did not so much echo as slam off every wall. She had been claustrophobic since she could remember and hated the strangling sensation of being locked into one room for any length of time. She had the hot coffee out when the footsteps came to the kitchen and Ygritte strolled in, wearing her son's shirt and proudly displaying love bites across the white length of her throat.

"Hi Lyanna, didn't hear you get in. Was your flight back from Myr alright?" asked Ygritte calmly accepting the offered cup.

"It was lovely and actually on time, miracle of miracles. Have you decided on where you want to go for grad school after you finish with White Harbor?" Lyanna said.

Ygritte gave Lyanna a long look over her coffee and let her eyes drift towards the ceiling where a loud thunk and thud, thud started down towards the stairs. 

"Only the Old Fighting Mermen for me," and Lyanna bit into another pastry to hide her smile before Jon burst into the room wearing only his boxers. She and Ygritte shared an amused glance at Jon's sputtering and Lyanna could only think- gods, I swear he is more Ned's then mine sometimes.


	16. Chapter 16

"He was staring at the north wall, mumbling the wall was gone, the wall was gone, nothing will stop them down. I swear, Wylla, he might be the prettiest patient I have seen but he gives me the creeps when the docs change his meds. I know Rhaegar has never been violent but it like he sees right through you sometimes like the greenseers in that movie Bella likes. You know, the one with Shae in it."

.......

"Yeah, I know. I liked it better when she did rom-coms too."


	17. Chapter 17

"Don't lose your head, Ned."

Ned barely remembers saying good bye to his brother before collapsing in his chair. He starts at the slam of the backdoor and Cat's calls to Rickon to pick up his muddy boots; it is well past sundown and the shadows fall long against the pale cast of the street lamps. Ned rubs his hands across his face and mutters it is only stress, it's been a long day.

A few lost hours, well, with Bran, Arya quitting school, the baby being born halfway across the world- Ned knew he had to put on a brave face, and went to welcome his wife and sons home.

He couldn't afford to be afraid right now.


	18. Chapter 18

Edmure sees her at the coffee shop in Maidenpool and the bottom of the world gives way. He thinks he is going to be sick, he thinks he can't let her leave his sight, the world narrows down to red, red, red, and her.

It take him three tries before Edmure can muster enough courage to push open the door and ask for the house special.

Edmure learns three important things that day: 1) her name is Roslin Rosby, 2) he is going to marry her 3) he hates pumpkin spice.

They will elope with in the week.

(They get married in Yi Ti in a red wedding of scarlet silk and passionflowers, Jeyne plays both maid of honor and best man for them while Robb streams the vows live to every one of their relatives).


	19. Chapter 19

Dany sees the red haired woman watching her from across the street.

***  
Viserys wakes up to see his sister's violet eyes staring straight at him. Gods, she must have crawled in while I was asleep, she hasn't done that since she was six, he thinks groggily and reaches out one hand hesitatingly. Dany frowns before squirreling in under her brother's arm until their heads lie on the same pillow.

"Bad dreams?"

Dany just looks at him. Viserys gently rubs Dany's back and tries to remember what he promised her back when they were children when she had bad dreams.

"R'member no bad dreams allowed here. I'll turn into a dragon and eat them for you, 'kay."

He sees the corners of her mouth turn up and a glimmer of wetness run down her cheek, "Well, I wouldn't want to wake the dragon."

Viserys snorts and yawns, Dany wrinkles her nose at his breath.

"No waking the dragon, fire, melty things, breakfest tacos get burn, so no bad dreams tonight."

He feels Dany squeeze his ribs in a fierce half hug and Viserys knows everything would be okay. Rhaenys was right, give Dany some space, and a safe place to hide for a little bit and she would pull through like a champ. He might not even need the name of that counselor Rhaenys gave him.

He falls asleep in peace, listening to the sound of his baby sister's breathing.

****  
Rhaenys flips open her phone and starts swearing so loudly at the lunch table that Val drops her soda. Val reaches over and pulls the phone out of Rhaenys's hand and look down at the message: DANY GONE. HELP.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fully believe in love stories.

Ashara finds violets left on her doorsteps and thinks it sweet.

The next day, a bundle of lavender and finds it quaint. 

The third day, a bouquet of bellflowers with still no note, has her calling Arthur.

Ashara can only stare wide eyed as her brother all but frogmarches his older friend, Barristan, on to her porch and stare at him with a look that always got confessions of mischief out of Ned and Allyria. Ashara can only smile in increasing disquiet as Barristan fumbled through an explanation of his sudden /infatuation/ with her after the dinner party last week. Ashara can admit that her heart melted a little when Barristan confessed the flowers were an attempt to match her eyes but he couldn't find the right color.

Still, she makes excuses about her work and her life to smooth out his rather awkward attempt at asking her out. (He was courting you, Elia laughs over the phone latter on and Ashara confesses she found him sweet and honorable and feels her heart twinge at the words).

The fact of the matter Ashara Dayne did fall in love with Barristan Selmy. Not over flowers, not over coffee, but when she listens to Elia's frantic phone call about Dany disappearing with a word and can do nothing but cry afterwards and Barristan coming in, bending down on one knee and asking what he can do.

Ashara can only sniffle, red nosed and puffy eyed, and squeeze his hand over hers. "Nothing unless you can bring Dany home," she said.

He swears that he will.

Arthur tells her as he picks her up to drive down to Sunspear that Barristan took a leave of absence from work and went north. He was an officer in the army and has experience; Ashara can only clutch her heart and go oh.

That is how Ashara Dayne fell in love with Barristan Selmy.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Resolution for Renly and sparkly raindow unicorns happiness for the Baratheon-Seaworths. Hopefully it will last (maybe).

Marya pulled the photos from the printer and went into her scrapbooking room. Shireen and her rather spectacular birthday party would be a perfect project for her and her girl now that all of the fuss had died down. Marya snorted as she pulled out the sud soaked Seaworth-Baratheon clan photo, trust the boys to turn a little girl's princess birthday party into an all out war on her poor lawn. Still the sight of all her boys (including a solemn looking Stannis) wearing plastic tiaras and carrying a happy 'Queen' Shireen in a victory of the 'Princesses' over the 'Pirates' made re-potting all her petunias worth it.

Marya fixed a snapshot of Davos and Stannis to the blank page. Her two husands her brother joked at her wedding, but when Stannis moved into the guest house with little Shireen after Selyse disappeared into that cult, well Marya always wanted a daughter and a husband that would do lawn work, the Seven work in mysterious ways. Nothing could separate Davos and Stannis, Marya knew that when she met them both as slick new junior grade lieutenants, the shine so new she could see her own reflection on their shoes. Falling in love with Davos was fate. Having Stannis in her life was a blessing- he was a hard man, a stiff man, but Marya never met a better one.

Marya lifted up a picture of sweet Mya swinging Edric Norcross around in a circle, their pirate hats askew. Good gods, the Baratheons made beautiful children, that is the only thing that no account Robert could claim, Marya thought, the rest was all Cassana, Steffon, and Stannis. Any man that would travel miles out of way twice a week so his niece could have horse back riding lessons, making sure Edric saw his siblings no matter his adoption- Marya pushed aside a snatch shot of Stannis talking to Renly by the pool.

She hope everything has been settled between them. It was plain odd not to have Renly ringing up Stannis especially with the tizzy over baby Bara. Marya flipped through her photos a second time and smiled. A brief fuzzy embrace between brothers in the background of Shireen and Cassana putting on the Summer Island jewelry Gendry made for them. She would cropped that one, mustn't embarrass the manly men. Though the one of Loras getting his hair patiently braided would be going in.

She would need to start a new scrapbook for baby Bara soon. Marya frowned. Had they decided on the last name yet? Marya hoped the Tyrells won that one, Bara Baratheon was too much of a mouth full.


	22. Chapter 22

It is five in the morning, she has to get her son to nursery school at eight, she has class at nine, and Gilly Tarly has to remind herself that strangling your spouse in frustration is at least manslaughter under criminal law (subsection 8-A burbles her overstuffed mind). Cracking one eye open, Gilly called out,"Sam, what is it?"

The love of her life, her cuddle bear, her husband ran into their bedroom, his Oldtown Ravens shirt half ripped, and blurted out, "Gilly it's gone!"

Gilly shot up in bed. "What the car!?"

Sam paused, "No, no the car is fine."

Gilly groaned and let her head thud on the pillow, "Then what, Sam?"

"My ZPK is gone. Everything, Gilly."

Gilly got up slowly and stared at her husband questioningly,"Everything in the Zombie Prevention Kit is gone. The heat sensors, the trip wires, the obsidian daggers, the guns, the ammo, and everything, everything?"

Sam nodded.

Gilly felt a chill creep down her spine as if winter was seeping into her vertebrata one by one. "Sam, we need to message the others."

Sam made a beeline for the laptop in the living room.

A flicker of an idea ran through Gilly's mind as she scrambled to put on her sweat pants and she yelled for Sam. He ran back into the bedroom, hugging their laptop like a teddy bear.

"Honey, we need to call the police too."

"Oh, yeah, the would be helpful."

"Just remember not to mention the z word, okay? Not to outsiders at least."

"Right."


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I really don't like Robert.

"I usta to be a king. Iwas.."

The bartender sighed and pulled the cab company card out of his pocket and dialed the number. It was a shame to see veterans fall like this, but frankly, you couldn't save anyone than didn't want to save themselves.

The delusions of royalty were new though. 

At least it wasn't that crazy broad claiming to the Ghost of High Heart. What it it about 80s hair bands that bring out the loonies? Blackfire, Oros, Valyria-- at least it wasn't all these new boy bands like the Gallant Men. As if any of them shaved.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for potty mouth

Rhaeinthenorth logged on  
Desertprincess logged on

Rhaeinthenorth: Any news?

Desertprincess: No, mom is with Aunt Elia and Aunt Ashara right now. Rhaella is not doing so well. Dad has pushed an APB on as many fronts as he can but Dany is over 18 and 18 do stupid shit. It gets a bump up but no signs of foul play. Why in all the hells did she run? Why did Viserys not fucking tell any one?

Rhaeinthenorth:... I told him to.

Desertprincess: RHAENYS MARTELL WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU. YOU ARE A DOCTOR. SEVEN HELLS. ARE YOU AS CRAZY AS YOUR FATHER?

Desertprincess: Rhaenys

Desertprincess: Rhaenys?

Desertprincess: shit, i am sorry, rhae. seriously that was out of line. i am so sorry. everyone is so tense here and elia and rhaella won't stop crying and there is no news on dany. viserys is having a breakdown over the phone with mom no one can get hold aegon overseas uncle oberyn and dad are arguing over his mercenary contacts i am so sorry rhae. rhae are you there? rhae?

Rhaeinthenorth: How is it you are a PhD candidate and Loreza has better typing than you?

Desertprincess: Rhaenys, living up north has made you mean.

Rhaeinthenorth: There is nothing to do up here but practice your insults, kill your liver, and shag like it going out of style. Oh and hurt yourself in various creative ways because of male idiocy. If Uncle Oberyn ever gets into a room with anyone call Giantsbane, get Mom and Aunt Ellaria /fast/.

Rhaeinthenorth: I wish I could be there. I am sorry I told Viserys to give Dany some breathing room over the semester. She just piled so much on so quick- I figured it was a freakout over a chance at failure like Tyene going into that motherhouse for a while. I never thought Dany could end up like Rhaegar or Aerys. I never

Desertprincess: Rhaenys, not your fault okay.

Rhaeinthenorth: thought it could be anything more than depression maybe. Maybe drugs. Dany was tired and withdrawn. Not delusional. Not manic or

Desertprincess: Rhaenys, not your fault okay?

Rhaeinthenorth: anything like Rhaegar or Aerys. The set of symptons were

Desertprincess: RHAENYS

Rhaeinthenorth: sorry

Desertprincess: i put my foot in mouth. It is not you, okay? It is just tense down here. A lot of waiting and more waiting. So distract me

Rhaeinthenorth: With what Arianne? There is snow and more snow up here. My liver finally has convinced me I am not immortal like half the locals. I love Val but Tormund is the most action I have seen. Mostly because I keep stitching up his idiot sons.

Desertprincess: what about that rancher guy?

Rhaeinthenorth:?

Desertprincess: you know with the biker gang, the blood drinkers?

Rhaeinthenorth: You mean the Bloodriders.

Desertprincess: Yeah, wasn't that some kind of ancient horde across Essos?

Rhaeinthenorth: The Bloodriders support the blood bank, Arianne. It is their charity. And no nothing happen between me and Drogo.

Desertprincess: seriously? the dedicated Dornish doctor and the lonely rancher in the north. You are a romance novel waiting to happen.

Rhaeinthenorth: Look, he tucked me into bed, saying he was looking for the moon of his life, not the sun because we would blaze and burn the world down around us, and it was a better 'friends speech' than most but the only thing keeping me warm at might is the heating blanket Mom bought me before I came up north.

Desertprincess: you are no fun.

Rhaeinthenorth: I aim to please. Look I need to start my shift soon. Will you text me if there is any news about Dany?

Desertprincess: I will. 

Desertprincess: You know Rhaenys Giantsbane has a nice ring to it.

Rhaeinthenorth: That is it. I am never getting you and Val together. Bye.

Desertprincess: bye rhae

 

Rhaeinthenorth logged off  
Desertprincess logged off


	25. Chapter 25

Willas waits in the police station, his head in his hands, going over and over the terrifying possibilities in his head: his Sansa, the incoming Fleebottom train, and the mangled corpse of a stranger, some rich son of a bitch named Baelish.

He prays.


	26. Chapter 26

Catlyn wonders if the gods are punishing her sometimes.

Her family is so scattered, she is stumbling in the dark, fumbling with how to speak with her children as if they were strangers sometimes. Jon is the closest in White Harbor and is a relief to hear him talk about his wolves and his girl without any of the landmines around Robb. Or Edmure, Catlyn winced at the memory of the row they had over his marriage to some barista he had known for a /week/, Mother be merciful. Roslin seemed to be a lovely girl but a /week/.

And Arya dropping out of school to move to the Summer Islands, Catlyn thought, but at least she is still talking to us, Bran mouths niceties with nothing of consequence coming out at all. Her sister tells her not to worry, it is not the end of the world, but Cat has nightmares of wandering around the countryside as a corpse, filling the empty cavity of her heart bit by bit with death, disruption and despair.

Try to focus on the positive, she tells herself, but then the phone rings.

****

Ned holds out his arms to his weeping wife and hears her sob their daughter's name. They take the next train down to see Sansa.


	27. Chapter 27

Rhaella could only wait and listen as Elia made tea in the kitchen, Arthur shadowing her like a guard. 

Her gooddaughter had always been her solace, a refugee after the fire (truedragonsdonnotburn) and after her son (motherwhathashappenedbefore willhappenagain), Rhaella closed her eyes, all her tears were gone, dried down to a bedrock of misery and memory.

Why now after all these years? Dany was her little dreamer, the spitfire with plans to set the world on fire, Doran's little protege. Rhaella had worried at Viserys early on. He looked up to his brother and father and remembered before the fire when everything had been better. Her marriage had worn down to small talk and separate bedrooms before Viserys was born. 

Dany.

Rhaella felt the old twinge under her breastbone. She remembered the night they conceived her. Aerys had pulled her out in the still night, down into the meadow south of their house, to a waiting blanket. He wanted to show her the stars, a red comet blazing across the sky. They made love that night. Finding out she was pregnant, Rhaella was so sure this was a new beginning for her family.

She had been right. It had been the beginning of the end.

Rhaella could read her hospital records, the police reports, and insurance investigation but nothing of those weeks of madness could match the memory of the weight of that replica of the old iron throne in her hand and the unmoving body of her husband on the floor. 

Rhaella let her fingers glide over the old scars on her neck where her husband had clawed at her. She left that night, grabbing her shell-shocked son from the staircase and the keys to her car and went straight to the sanctuary of the bright lights of the county hospital.

Then the next three days were only words on a page to her: her husband was dead, he burned down their house, Rhaegar was missing, and Elia with their children left Kingslanding for Sunspear. The police found him ransacking a hotel room near the Godseye national park, screaming about a she-wolf and a prince he was promised. 

Then Dany had been born premature, amidst the salt and smoke of a botched ferry crossing on the Greenblood. The doctors told Rhaella she almost died before the rescue helicopter reached her and her daughter. Rhaella can't remember anything between driving to the entrance of the hospital and waking up to Elia nursing Dany at the window of her hospital room.

Thank the Seven in all the heavens, the Martells had risen to the occasion.

Rhaella starts at the hot cup offered to her and takes the cup with a murmur of thanks. Arthur escorted Elia to the opposite couch, his hand curled in the small of her back. Rhaella had never questioned Arthur and Elia over their romance, the need for insurance for Rhaegar had quashed any mention of divorcement or remarriage for Elia. Frankly, she was thankful that her eldest had inspired such devotion in his wife and best friend- the small joys of their love, it gave her hope.

Rhaegar. Rhaella did not believe in omens and superstitions, but in visiting her sweet son the week before Dany's disappearance, she couldn't get his words out of her head (sooncomesthecoldandthenightthatneverendsitwillnot stop this time mother).

"Rhaella, you are freezing! Here let get you another cup of tea and a shawl," Arthur said, reaching out and plucking the cold cup from her hands.

Rhaella turned and watched Arthur march into the kitchen while Elia pulled open the blinds to look out onto the shining lights of nighttime Sunspear. "I swear, there is a chill in the air. The weather is like this in the Vale but this far south," Elia commented idly.

Rhaella watched the city lights flicker across her gooddaughter's face like flashes of a sword blade and felt more than spoke the words that tumbled from her lips.

"Winter is coming."


	28. Chapter 28

Arya brings out the pina coladas to the beach, Hot Pie whispering in her ear to play nice, big tippers.

The two men are hairy, tanned, and stink of wealth as only gold chains and silk Summer Island print shirts can do. A slim silver blonde woman comes bouncing out of the waves as Arya smiles and lays down the drinks on the table by the two men. Arya doesn't even raise an eyebrow at the itty bitty bikini the woman wears, despite (or because she thinks cynically) being at least six months pregnant.

She does smile as the woman sits down in the first one's lap and the man proceeds to kiss the baby bump and then his wife. It reminded her of her brother and Jeyne or Uncle Ed and Roslin over the vid cam.

"It is a better world this time around, isn't Miss Stark."

Arya looks down into the knowing eyes of the second man, and freezes. There is a howling in her ears that makes Arya think of wolves until she dimly realizes it is the frantic beat of her heart and the edges of her sight blacken.

"The Summer Islands are truly a paradise. I can tell you are another ex-pat like us. All this peace and sunshine can seduce the hardiest soul. Here let me sign for that," and the man reaches out and nimbly pulls the pen and paper off the platter and signs with a flourish.

******

Hot Pie flips the burger with a flourish and looks up to see Arya march in. Shit, he thinks, the last time he saw that look on Arya's face was in Braavos. 

Hot Pie hated think about Braavos.

He drops the spatula on the side of the grill and moves over to Arya in the door way cautiously. "Arry, Arry, what's wrong?" he asks.

Arya turns towards him, her eyes wide and white like a hunted animal, "He knew my name."

Hot Pie blinks and leans forward, poking Arya in the chest, right square on her name tag.

Arya looks down, stares and starts to giggle. Hot Pie took a step back and raises his hands up as Arya bent down over her belly and giggles like a drunk co-ed hopped up on jello shots. Hot Pie looks around vainly for the salt, salt and holy water for exorcisms right he thought, because Arya Stark did not /giggle/.

Except she did, right into a ball on the floor. Hot Pie approach and gently nudges her with his foot. "Hey Arya, who's 'he'," he asks.

Getting no response but another fit of laughter, Hot Pie picks up the receipt crumbled in Arya's hand and smooths it out. Huh, V something signed but card was a Mopatis account, like the developer he guesses, and then Hot Pie looks at tip line. His eyebrows proceed to try and crawl into his hair line.

"Hey Ary?"

Arya wipes the tears from her cheeks and looks up, "Yeah, Hot Pie?"

"When do you want to open up our bar?" 

****

They do the books later and while not quite enough to quit and open up their own place even Gendry agreed it was definitely the down payment. They toasted the Gods with sweet amber wine, Hot Pie passed out in the hamock while Arya dragged Gendry back to their bedroom to continue the holy rites.

Only later laying naked on Gendry's chest and listening to the slow beat of his heart does the realization come to Arya. Her name tag only says her first name, not her last.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am doing the Greyjoys, another Jamie and Brienne chapter, getting back to Bran, Sansa, Mel and Dany with the apocalypse in the north. Any suggestions on who you want to see?

Asha is the only one that bothers to go see Theon since he has moved to the mainland. 

Not even their mother speaks of him anymore.

Asha makes the Sunday dinners when she can (and pulling the Black Wind into Lannisport when she tires of the small talk and petty belly aching of her father and drunk uncles, if Maron can take six months shifts on the oil rigs of Great Wyk then Asha can take a bloody weekend once in a while).

Nothing ever changes, they bitch about the weather, the cost of gas, the freakin' bleeding hearts in Parliament over the new drilling options, the chances of the Raiders making it to the Cup- Asha never can make it to pie, the need for clean air and the honest sea drives her out the swinging door and down to the docks before long. She can only stomach her father's petty kingdom for an afternoon; Asha likes having a tongue in her mouth, biting it in two because of her father's bullshit would be a waste.

She rather not rock the boat and that staying to dessert would tempt her enough to mention Theon getting another dog, a big old shaggy dog appropriately named Shaggydog and watch with entire castle of cards come shattering down at the mention of her brother's name. The godsdam lizard-lion in the room, how Balon Greyjoy's feckless, fey youngest son blinded and beat the shit out dear old uncle Euron after he caught the bastard trying to rape his goodsister. And kneecapped Uncle Victarion without blinking when he tried to stop Theon from marching their aunt to the ferry with her bags. 

In front of the entire population of Pyke. 

The Greyjoys never got over that. Domestic abuse not a kicker her family but the open humiliation of getting your ass handed to you by a snot nosed teenager- Asha could close her eyes and see Euron's eye-patch, Victarion's lame leg, her father's throbbing vein in his neck, and her mother's sad eyes. The last would always hold her tongue. Theon had always been their mother 's favorite. Her little dreamer with his fanciful stories of living in a great castle and learning the sword with his brothers, wolf pups nipping at their heels. Watching too much Kings of Winter as a boy on the telly and never learning when to shut up, Asha loved her baby brother but gods help her, she never knew what in the seven hells was going in his head half the time.

She will always remember tracking him down the cheap dive off the ferry crossing at Blacktyde after everything. The hospital, the investigation, and the box of Theon's things on the front porch- nothing hit home to Asha as the haunted look in her baby brother's eyes looking over the water towards the mainland. "Asha do you think we can ever be forgiven for our sins, ever escape the things we've done?"

Asha hated slipping into conversations she had no clue about, you never knew what sandbars you might hit and wreck yourself. "Baby brother, did Uncle Aeron get to you with the holy wine and the Great Shepherd talk 'cause he was never right in the head after that drowning. What in the seven hells could you possibly have done? You are only seventeen and can barely shave," she said.

Asha was proud that she stifled her first impulse to step back after seeing that shadow cross Theon's eyes. Even after everything, he was still her wet behind the ears baby brother, no matter what- Asha did not run. Instead, Theon leaned forward and embraced her hard in a hug. "You always came for me, didn't you Asha."

Asha hugged her brother back and tried to ignore the sudden wetness seeping on her shirt. Sometimes she is more of a Greyjoy than she cared to admit. "We are going to get off this rock, Theon and have adventures. I promise you that."

Theon just gripped harder, steadying himself against her. "My sister, captain of the Black Wind till the end of time," He whispered into her coat.

That was the last time Asha saw her brother on the islands, he took that the ferry that night and never returned. Theon stayed with his old history teacher Mr. Luwin until he turned eighteen, then he disappeared into the woods of the Rills. Asha waited tables at the Kraken's Daughter off First and tried to save up money for her own ship.

She got the occasional e-mail from Theon when he wandered down from the Rills into civilized areas that had internet connection. I am okay, I am building a cabin on some land Mr. Luwin left me, I have a dog called Grey Wind now, I taking odd jobs, I am okay Asha.

Then the certified letter came the mail.

The locals still talk about how Asha Greyjoy marched into the Kraken's Daughter, threw her apron at Erik Anvilbreaker, called him a dirty old goat who couldn't get it up if he tried, and if tried to pinch her ass again she would break his fingers, and oh, she quit.

She sailed out of the harbor that day in her new ship, the Black Wind.

Asha never told anyone where she got the money for the ship. She never asked Theon where he got the $50,000; she had iron and salt in her blood and well, a true Islander never looked too closely at gifts, a culture born of raiding and wreckage made overlooking spots on silverware a matter of course (you never knew if they were rust or old blood.)

She sees her brother when she can, coaxing him out of the hills with the promised of smuggled pie and some island whiskey brewed out on Blacktyde. They sit in Ryswell Park overlooking the white cliffs and bullshit each other to the best of their ability while Theon's growing collection of rescued dogs beg for scraps beneath the bench. Sometimes after he has three pints in him and the sun stains the sea blood bright as it sinks into the dark, Theon will actual talk to her (Jeyne. Her name is Jeyne, it rhymes with pain, she kept me sane- a poet her brother isn't but his words always turn in her gut like the sudden shift in the air before a unexpected squall).

Asha had her ship and the sea, Theon had his hills and hounds (woods and wolves always, always he whispers drunkenly in her ear) and life was good for a time.

Then Rolfie turned on the tv in the galley and Asha felt her heart stop - the two missing Miller boys were found alive in West Rills after reports of a deadly dog attack near this cabin, the victim is unknown and details remain unclear, but this unnamed suspect taken in for questioning-

A grainy image, taken by a news helicopter a thousand feet above, and Asha knew it was Theon. She snapped at Harl to take a heading back to port immediately. A little brother may live to be a hundred, but he will always be a little brother, Asha thought, she would not lose him.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For BookWorm848 who wanted Brienne and Jamie.

Kevan corrals him into pulling a more active role in the foundation but Jamie is not sure if he can forgive his uncle for this.

Grant meetings. 

Jamie folds his hands on the table and tries not to look completely bored as the myriad of crusading souls bleed into one long bleeding heart sound bite before his ears. He honestly tries to stay in engaged but the grey fog of the past months keeps creeping in and Jamie just can't give a damn. Saving the whales, rainforest, dire wolves (a twinge runs through his wrist and Jamie frowns and rubs his hand- no tennis this weekend), the human trafficking of young girls- Jamie looks up and the world explodes into color.

She is tall, clad in an ill tailored suit, 'military' screaming in every straight edged vertebrae of her spine, with eyes like a sapphire sea.

In the sudden lull of conversation, Jamie realizes with growing sense of horror he spoke the last part out loud.

Podrick, Tyrion's little protege, coughs awkwardly and the bright-eyed little advocate beside him gives Jamie an appraising look and a flash of a shit eating grin before tugging her red faced colleague over to make a proper introduction.

"Mr. Lannister, this is Captain Brienne Tarth, one of the founding members of the True Knights Foundation, and one of the best people I had the pleasure to know. Stop it, Brienne, it is true. She won the Silver Star and the Iron Dragon during the Stepstones Conflict. Now, she is dedicated to bringing back lost girls back to their mothers."

Jamie barely hears a word as the girl chatters on. 

Brienne, he thinks and extends his hand, her name is Brienne. Brienne smiles and grabs Jamie's hand in a firm shake and everything falls into place.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Given the number of girl cousins, I gave Jorah girls with his first Glover wife.

Jorah watched his ex-wife collect her silk teddy and grins as Lynesse frowned at the torn straps.

"You do realize that Chataya costs more than your entire wardrobe, Jorah," Lynesse sighed and tossed the scrap of silk into her clutch, before rooting under the bed for her heels.

Jorah reached a hand around Lynesse's waist and pulled her hard against his naked chest, laying a trail of kisses up her shoulder and neck.  
"You didn't seem to mind it when I taking it off you."

Lynesse laughed and twisted around to gently push Jorah away, "Don't start what you can't finish and I have a flight back to Lys in three hours, remember?"

His hand held tight to her wrist. "You don't have to go. Stay."

Jorah saw the laughter flee from her face and the bland corporate smile come out. He cursed his bloody fool mouth for ruining the remains of what had been a lovely weekend. Why he kept running himself headlong into the same brick wall over and over, Jorah didn't have a clue. Their brief marriage began in fireworks and nearly ended in a house fire (Maege just has to give a pointed look at the burn mark on the wooden floor to shut up his father and him when they get on a row.) His life is a record stuck on repeat but Jorah can't help thinking the next verse would bring something new.

Intead, he pulls her hand up and plants an apologetic kiss on her knuckles. "Sorry, just the nostalgia speaking. Go freshen up and I'll find my pants and get the car ready to take you to airport," Jorah said.

Lynesse gave him a dazzling smile and Jorah bit down on his cheek before he proposed marriage. Again.

*********

He lets the truck go, the flap properly tied down, the array of weapons and military supplies hidden from view again. The bulletin from Dorne crumpled in the passenager seat. Bear Island, Jorah thinks numbly, the island will be safe. He will drag the girls to see their cousins and every damn Glover he can get his hands on. His first ex-wife and his father on the same island- all the gods in heaven.

The gods preserve us all, Jorah lays his trembling hands on the steering wheel and prays, "Khaleesi."


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tansy is not an OC, just the baby that Lysa got pregnant with and was forced to abort before she married Jon Arryn. I need someone to fulfill the lawyer role and this was a good chance to close the Lysa/Robin/Riverrun angle.
> 
> Jon Arryn is a politician that Lysa met for drinks, felt a deep connection to, sleep with, and regretted it in the morning.
> 
> Never regretted Robin. Always had a lurking fear of someone taking her babies away but generally happy life.
> 
> Lysa needs good things.

When Tansy Tully went to law school, she did not have the expectation of trying to keep her mother out of jail, it just worked out that way. 

Really.

Lysa Tully never backed down from a fight. 

Not when she had an out of wedlock baby and refused to name the father. Not when she openly refused to give her baby up for adoption but raised her, went to work, and finished her degree. Not when she went to work for the leading reproductive rights organization on the continent. Not when she challenged leading pundits on national tv. Not when she got pregnant the second time and finished her second term as the mayor of Maidenpool.

Still, Tansy was proud of her mother, but fully expected once she got her law degree in criminal justice to get a text from someone in her family needing a lawyer- it would be her spirtfire of a mother.

Or Bran setting fire to a car, maybe. Who else would it be? Half her cousins weren't even on the continent, and while Uncle Ed running away with some barista was odd, Tansy didn't do civil cases. Her grandparents lived in a nice retirement community in Riverrun and fished and played bridge. Her little brother was studying accounting at the junior college and did bird-watching for the love of all the gods. 

Nothing could prepare for the text she got that fair cold morning from Robin.

GET TO KING'SLANDING QUICK. SHE NEEDS A LAWYER FAST.

Tansy grabbed her phone and flipped the keyboard out.

WHO? MOM? ISN'T SHE IN SEAGARD THIS WEEK?

Her phone buzzed and the world tilted on its axis when Tansy read her brother's reply.

NO SANSA. THE COPS SAY SHE PUSHED SOME GUY NAME PETYR BAELISH INTO AN INCOMING TRAIN.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Veridissima who wanted Cat and Ned.

The click-click-clack of the night train did not soothe Catlyn as it did when she was girl taking the train north for holidays. Instead it sounded like a cinch being wound tight around her throat, she couldn't breathe. Tansy was already driving down from Maidenpool to King's Landing, Willas was going to met them at the station, Bran and Rickon would be fine until Lyanna could mange to come up from White Harbor the next day, Sansa was sitting in jail- Catlyn stared off into the blackness, a few glints of moonlight play off the waters of the Green Fork, they are crossing...

They are crossing...

The next sensation Catlyn became aware of was her husband combing his hands through her long red hair as she laid in his lap. She twisted her head to look up at Ned's grave gray eyes. "N-Ned, did I fall asleep?"

Ned stopped, moving his hand from her hair to tightly grasp her hand. "Cat, you /moaned/ and practically collapsed in on yourself. I called your name, but you didn't response- just laid down my lap and wouldn't open your eyes. I-I just," 

Ned pinched his eyes shut and squeezed his wife's hand.

"I've always hated King's Landing. Hated it as a bloody school boy, got in the city limits and just lost my head, threw a fit until Brandon came and got me. I thought my brother would kill me, making him drive three hours from university to pick up his little brother. Instead, he picked me up, bought me a beer, and drove up to Duskendale for that old seaside carnival. He told me later on, driving up back north, /he/ pulled the same bit when he went on his school trip down there. Said Starks weren't made for that city, too much of the North in us."

Cat sat up, clinging tightly to their joined hands. Dim memories of the panic attack she had while camping as a girl, being found passed out in the shadows of the ruined towers of the Twins, of Robb being airlifted to Seagard- do not let me stumble in the dark places that lie ahead, oh gods, Cat prayed, oh not /again/-

She felt light headed, as if she was standing on a tall cliff, one foot lifted into the black, not knowing if she step down on solid ground or treacherous air. 

Ned continued, "Not sure of there is much North in a hunting lodge in the wilds of Cape Wrath, but Bran is right. We're all alive and we'll handle this, no matter how it comes. Sansa is alive and we will get our little girl out of that godsforsaken city and.."

He stared at her and Cat looked at her poor, bleary eyed Ned and thought of her children scattered to the four corners of the earth, thought of the last few tense months, and the words rang clear as a cracking stone; oh my heart, I would it all over again.

Cat started when Ned lifted his free hand to cup and curl her loose hair through his fingers.

"I have always loved your hair, Cat."

She laughed, a short tumble of noise before preceding to fall forward into her husband's embrace as he leaned against the wall.

Bran was right, Cat thought, shifting over to listen to Ned's heartbeat, we are all alive this time around, it is going to be okay, whatever comes. Something about that particular phrasing and the seriousness of her son's dark eyes, niggled at the back of Cat's mind, but slumber finally stole her way.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting back to plot.

The car was paid for in cash, the license and registration all nice, neat, and legal as only the best forgery could be- the amount of weapons and high-end explosives packaged in the trunk not so much.

He waits, until the train has pulled way from the station, angling towards his target as soon the younger brother runs to the soda machines across the terminal.

The target turns.

Their eyes meet.

A flash shoots out between them.

***

Bran catches the car keys unwittingly, clutching them to his chest as the world suddenly saturates in color and goes silent, the crowds, the trains, the noise vanishing as the words reach him.

"Parking lot E-4, the green four-door sedan. Everything you need is in the trunk, prepaid debit card in the glove department, follow the GPS, and don't get pulled over if you don't want to spend the rest of your life in jail. What would remain of your life anyway. You have a forty-eight hour head start if you leave right now."

Bran swallows and almost gags on the bitter aftertaste that comes, like the pills, like a sour paste, like old blood and he screams-

"jojen."

The man turns at the whisper of his name, a man grown, healthy and hale where the reed thin boy in his dreams use to be. Clad in in jeans and a hoodie instead of furs and nets, Bran thinks of nothing except: his eyes are the same.

"Good luck, Bran."

***  
Rickon runs back to his brother, clutching the hated diet soda in his hand. "Hey Bran, all they had were diet. Can we stop on the way home and pick up some... what are you staring at?"

"Just someone I use to know," Bran answers. 

"Hey, Rickon. Do you think could make it home okay from here with the car?"

Rickon clicks the tab of his soda and blinks in surprise. "Dude, sure, but are you actually going to let me drive? I can't get a learner's permit until next year."

"Here."

Rickon almost drops his soda, catching the keys with his left hand as his brother marches down the terminal.

"Shit Bran, where the fuck are- hey BRAN."

"Look give me until Aunt Lya shows up. Just 48 hours. I covered all this semester with you and Jorelle. You owe me, Rickon, I wouldn't do it unless it was important."

Rickon stares at his brother, walking away from him, acutely aware of the cellphone in his pocket.

"Is it the dreams?" Rickon asks before thinking.

His brother stops, a hundred feet away, shoulders straight and does not turn before answering a single soft yes and marching ahead until the crowd swallows him up.

Rickon goes home, turning every light he can find, leaving all three tvs on blaring, even the one in his parents' bedroom upstairs; he brings out the old quilt, ratty and smelling of mothballs, and flops down on the living room sofa and tries to sleep.

He doesn't.


	35. Chapter 35

Small talk is hard traveling north, Dany thinks.

Though apparently, singing along to 'I would walk 500 miles' for the twentieth time doesn't get old, she sighs as the tape deck flips over and an a every, every familar tune comes on.

"And I wou-ld walk five hun-dred miles.."


End file.
